U.S. patent number 11,313,626 [Application Number 16/985,715] was granted by the patent office on 2022-04-26 for heat pipe.
This patent grant is currently assigned to VAST GLORY ELECTRONICS & HARDWARE & PLASTIC(HUI ZHOU) LTD.. The grantee listed for this patent is VAST GLORY ELECTRONICS & HARDWARE & PLASTIC(HUI ZHOU) LTD.. Invention is credited to Lei Lei Liu, Xue Mei Wang.
United States Patent |
11,313,626 |
Liu , et al. |
April 26, 2022 |
Heat pipe
Abstract
This disclosure relates to a heat pipe includes a tubular body
and a capillary structure. The tubular body has an inner surface.
The inner surface forms a sealed chamber. The capillary structure
is located in the sealed chamber and arranged on the inner surface.
The tubular body includes a condensation section and an evaporation
section connected to each other. The capillary structure includes a
cold section and a heat section connected to each other. The cold
section is disposed on the condensation section, and the heat
section is disposed on the evaporation section. A wall thickness of
the cold section is greater than a wall thickness of the heat
section.
Inventors: |
Liu; Lei Lei (Hui Zhou,
CN), Wang; Xue Mei (Hui Zhou, CN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
VAST GLORY ELECTRONICS & HARDWARE & PLASTIC(HUI ZHOU)
LTD. |
Hui Zhou |
N/A |
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
VAST GLORY ELECTRONICS &
HARDWARE & PLASTIC(HUI ZHOU) LTD. (Hui Zhou,
CN)
|
Family
ID: |
1000006265659 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/985,715 |
Filed: |
August 5, 2020 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20210293486 A1 |
Sep 23, 2021 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 19, 2020 [CN] |
|
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202010196720.5 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D
15/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F28D
15/04 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;165/104.26 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2017072340 |
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Apr 2017 |
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JP |
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800577 |
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Jan 1981 |
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SU |
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Primary Examiner: Duong; Tho V
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Maschoff Brennan
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A heat pipe, comprising: a tubular body, having an inner
surface, wherein the inner surface forms a sealed chamber; and a
capillary structure, located in the sealed chamber and arranged on
the inner surface; wherein the tubular body comprises a
condensation section and an evaporation section connected to each
other, the capillary structure comprises a cold section and a heat
section connected to each other, the cold section is disposed on
the condensation section, the heat section is disposed on the
evaporation section, and a wall thickness of the cold section is
greater than a wall thickness of the heat section; wherein a ratio
of the wall thickness of the cold section of the capillary
structure to a wall thickness of the condensation section of the
tubular body ranges from 5 to 6, and a ratio of the wall thickness
of the heat section of the capillary structure to a wall thickness
of the evaporation section of the tubular body ranges from 3 to
4.
2. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein at least part of the
cold section of the capillary structure has a wall thickness being
uniform in an axial direction of the tubular body, and at least
part of the heat section of the capillary structure has a wall
thickness being uniform in the axial direction.
3. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the condensation
section of the tubular body is in a cylindrical shape, and the
evaporation section of the tubular body is in a relatively flat
shape compared to the condensation section.
4. The heat pipe according to claim 3, wherein the evaporation
section of the tubular body has two thermal contact surfaces that
are opposite to and parallel to each other.
5. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the wall thickness
of the condensation section of the tubular body is equal to the
wall thickness of the evaporation section of the tubular body.
6. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein each of the
condensation section and the evaporation section of the tubular
body has a uniform wall thickness.
7. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the tubular body
further comprises a connection section, the connection section has
a first end and a second end that are opposite to each other and
are respectively connected to the condensation section and the
evaporation section, the capillary structure further comprises a
link section connected to and located between the cold section and
the heat section, and a wall thickness of one side of the link
section connected to the cold section gradually decreases to a wall
thickness of another side of the link section connected to the heat
section.
8. The heat pipe according to claim 7, wherein the wall thickness
of the side of the link section connected to the cold section is
equal to the wall thickness of the cold section, and the wall
thickness of the another side of the link section connected to the
heat section is equal to the wall thickness of the heat
section.
9. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of
the tubular body has no groove provided thereon.
10. The heat pipe according to claim 9, wherein the inner surface
is a smooth surface.
11. The heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the capillary
structure is made of a single piece.
12. A heat pipe, comprising: a tubular body, having an inner
surface, wherein the inner surface forms a sealed chamber; and a
capillary structure, located in the sealed chamber and arranged on
the inner surface; wherein the tubular body comprises a
condensation section and an evaporation section connected to each
other, the capillary structure comprises a cold section and a heat
section connected to each other, the cold section is disposed on
the condensation section, the heat section is disposed on the
evaporation section, and a wall thickness of the cold section is
greater than a wall thickness of the heat section; wherein a wall
thickness of each of the condensation section and the evaporation
section of the tubular body is 0.25 millimeters, the wall thickness
of the cold section of the capillary structure is 1.4 millimeters,
and the wall thickness of the heat section of the capillary
structure is 1.1 millimeters.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn. 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 202010196720.5 filed in
China, P.R.C. on Mar. 19, 2020, the entire contents of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a heat dissipation device, more
particularly to a heat pipe.
BACKGROUND
A heat pipe is a hollow cylinder or tubular section of metal and is
designed to evenly distribute heat. The heat pipe was first used
for aerospace technology years ago; now it has been widely used in
various heat exchangers, coolers, and the like.
The heat pipe has a sealed internal chamber for accommodating a
working fluid or coolant. The vaporization and condensation of the
working fluid can form a closed cooling circulation in the sealed
internal chamber so that the heat pipe features rapid and even heat
distribution to achieve the purpose of heat transfer. In detail,
partial evaporation of the working fluid takes place at the
evaporation section so as to produce high pressure to drive the
gaseous working fluid to flow towards the condensation section, the
gaseous working fluid is cooled and condensed into liquid at the
condensation section, and the heat pipe employs a capillary
structure to promote the flow of the condensed working fluid back
to the evaporation section.
However, in some applications that the condensation section is
placed lower than the evaporation section may cause the capillary
action to work against gravity, such that the capillary structure
might not effectively bring the working fluid back to the
evaporation section. This issue usually causes the evaporation
section to be heated in a dry condition.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides a heat pipe capable of ensuring a
sufficient capillary action force and heat transfer while working
against gravity.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a heat pipe
includes a tubular body and a capillary structure. The tubular body
has an inner surface. The inner surface forms a sealed chamber. The
capillary structure is located in the sealed chamber and arranged
on the inner surface. The tubular body includes a condensation
section and an evaporation section connected to each other. The
capillary structure includes a cold section and a heat section
connected to each other. The cold section is disposed on the
condensation section, and the heat section is disposed on the
evaporation section. A wall thickness of the cold section is
greater than a wall thickness of the heat section.
According to the heat pipe discussed above, the cold section has a
thicker wall thickness than the heat section of the capillary
structure, such that, while the evaporation section is placed
higher than the condensation section, the condensation section of
the heat pipe still has a sufficient capillary action force to work
against gravity, and the evaporation section of the heat pipe still
has a sufficient evaporation rate, thereby forming the cooling
circulation. And, the capability of transmitting liquid of the cold
section to the other one is stronger than that of the heat section,
and the capability of evaporating liquid of the heat section to the
sealed chamber is stronger than that of the cold section. As such,
the heat pipe can offer a sufficient capillary action force and
effective heat transfer to ensure its functionality.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the
detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying
drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are
not intending to limit the present disclosure and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat pipe according to a first
embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat pipe in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the heat pipe taken along line
3-3 in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the heat pipe taken along line
4-4 in FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation,
numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be
apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, well-known
structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify
the drawing.
Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, where FIG. 1 is a perspective
view of a heat pipe according to a first embodiment of the present
disclosure, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat pipe in
FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the heat pipe taken
along line 3-3 in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of
the heat pipe taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.
This embodiment provides a heat pipe 10. The heat pipe 10 includes
a tubular body 100 and a capillary structure 200. The tubular body
100 has an inner surface 101 and an outer surface 102. The inner
surface 101 forms a sealed chamber S. The outer surface 102 faces
away from the inner surface 101 and is exposed outside. In this
embodiment, the inner surface 101 is, for example but not limited
to, a smooth surface without grooves or recesses provided
thereon.
The tubular body 100 includes a condensation section 110, an
evaporation section 120, and a connection section 130. In this
embodiment, the condensation section 110 of the tubular body 100 is
in a cylindrical shape. The evaporation section 120 of the tubular
body 100 is in a relatively flat shape compared to the condensation
section 110. The evaporation section 120 of the tubular body 100
has two thermal contact surfaces 121 that are opposite to and
parallel to each other. The thermal contact surfaces 121 are
configured to be in thermal contact with a heat source (not
shown).
In this embodiment, as shown, a wall thickness T1 of the
condensation section 110 of the tubular body 100 is equal to a wall
thickness T2 of the evaporation section 120 of the tubular body
100, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some
other embodiments, the condensation section of the tubular body and
the evaporation section of the tubular body may have different wall
thicknesses.
In this embodiment, the wall thickness T1 of the condensation
section 110 is uniform from one end to the other, and the wall
thickness T2 of the evaporation section 120 is also uniform from
one end to the other; however, the present disclosure is not
limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the tubular body may
have a condensation section of non-uniform wall thickness; in
another embodiment, the tubular body may have an evaporation
section of non-uniform wall thickness.
The connection section 130 of the tubular body 100 has a first end
131 and the second end 132 that are opposite to each other and are
respectively connected to the condensation section 110 and the
evaporation section 120. As shown, the first end 131 of the
connection section 130 is in a cylindrical shape and the second end
132 of the connection section 130 is in a relatively flat
shape.
In this embodiment, the connection section 130 of the tubular body
100 is configured to connect the condensation section 110 and the
evaporation section 120 that are in different shape, but the
present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other
embodiments where the condensation section and the evaporation
section have the same cross-sectional shape, the tubular body may
omit the aforementioned connection section.
The capillary structure 200 is located in the sealed chamber S and
is arranged on the inner surface 101. In detail, the capillary
structure 200 includes a cold section 210, a heat section 220, and
a link section 230. The cold section 210 is disposed on the
condensation section 110 of the tubular body 100. The heat section
220 is disposed on the evaporation section 120 of the tubular body
100. A wall thickness T3 of the cold section 210 of the capillary
structure 200 is greater than a wall thickness T4 of the heat
section 220 of the capillary structure 200. The cold section 210 is
connected to the heat section 220 via the link section 230. The
link section 230 has a wall thickness gradually decreases from the
cold section 210 to the heat section 220. As shown in FIG. 2, one
side of the link section 230 connected to the cold section 210 has
a wall thickness T5, the other side of the link section 230
connected to the heat section 220 has a wall thickness T6, and the
wall thickness T5 gradually decreases to the wall thickness T6.
In this embodiment, the wall thickness T3 of the cold section 210
is uniform in an axial direction AA of the tubular body 100, and
the wall thickness T4 of part of the heat section 220 is uniform in
the axial direction AA of the tubular body 100; however, the
present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other
embodiments, the wall thickness of part of the cold section of the
capillary structure is uniform in the axial direction of the
tubular body, and the wall thickness of the heat section of the
capillary structure is uniform in the axial direction of the
tubular body; in still some other embodiments, the wall thickness
of the cold section of the capillary structure is uniform in the
axial direction of the tubular body, and the wall thickness of the
heat section of the capillary structure is uniform in the axial
direction of the tubular body; in still further some other
embodiments, the wall thickness of part of the cold section of the
capillary structure is uniform in the axial direction of the
tubular body, and the wall thickness of part of the heat section of
the capillary structure is uniform in the axial direction of the
tubular body.
In this embodiment, the wall thickness T5 of the side of the link
section 230 connected to the cold section 210 is equal to the wall
thickness T3 of the cold section 210, and the wall thickness T6 of
the other side of the link section 230 connected to the heat
section 220 is equal to the wall thickness T4 of the heat section
220; however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In
some other embodiments, the wall thickness of the side of the link
section connected to the cold section may not be equal to the wall
thickness of the cold section, and the wall thickness of the side
of the link section connected to the heat section may not be equal
to the wall thickness of the heat section.
In this embodiment, the capillary structure 200 is made of a single
piece in form of, for example, micro groove structure, metal mesh
structure, sintered powder structure or sintered ceramic
structure.
In this embodiment, a ratio of the wall thickness T3 of the cold
section 210 of the capillary structure 200 to the wall thickness T1
of the condensation section 110 of the tubular body 100 ranges, for
example, from 5 to 6, and a ratio of the wall thickness T4 of the
heat section 220 of the capillary structure 200 to the wall
thickness T2 of the evaporation section 120 of the tubular body 100
ranges, for example, from 3 to 4. In one embodiment, the wall
thickness T1 of the condensation section 110 of the tubular body
100 is approximately 0.25 millimeters, the wall thickness T2 of the
evaporation section 120 of the tubular body 100 is approximately
0.25 millimeters, the wall thickness T3 of the cold section 210 of
the capillary structure 200 is approximately 1.4 millimeters, and
the wall thickness T4 of the heat section 220 of the capillary
structure 200 is approximately 1.1 millimeters.
According to the heat pipe 10 discussed in the above embodiments,
the cold section 210 has a thicker wall thickness than the heat
section 220 of the capillary structure 200, such that, while the
evaporation section 120 is placed higher than the condensation
section 110, the condensation section 110 of the heat pipe 10 still
has a sufficient capillary action force to work against gravity,
and the evaporation section 120 of the heat pipe 10 still has a
sufficient evaporation rate, thereby forming the cooling
circulation. And, the capability of transmitting liquid of the cold
section 210 to the other one is stronger than that of the heat
section 220, and the capability of evaporating liquid of the heat
section 220 to the sealed chamber S is stronger than that of the
cold section 210. As such, the heat pipe 10 can offer a sufficient
capillary action force and effective heat transfer to ensure its
functionality.
The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain
the principles of the present disclosure and its practical
applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art best
utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various
modifications as are suited to the particular use being
contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the present
disclosure is defined by the following claims and their
equivalents.
* * * * *